Ace Hunt
GoSycamores.com
CHICAGO, Ill. -- Bolstered by a one-under-par round of 71 from junior Marissa Uradomo, the Sycamores made a move up the leaderboard into second place after today's record setting (April 18) second round at the 2016 Missouri Valley Conference Championship. The event is being held at the par-72, 5,977-yard layout of Harborside International (Port Course) and is being hosted by Loyola.
"A lot of folks didn't expect this but we did," head coach Greg Towne said. "We believe in ourselves, we know it's okay to make mistakes, we learn from every round we play and look for each day as an opportunity to get better. The team is incredibly calm but even when they are a little nervous they are keeping a clear head. We are looking forward to the challenge tomorrow and will keep our foot on the gas till the last hole."
Uradomo carded a 71, which is tied for the third-best showing of her career while Sophie Benetti, Robyn Blanchard and Thilda Staubo all posted even par rounds of 72. The Sycamores owned the low team round of the day by posting a school record score of 287, which is one-under-par. The previous school record round was 296, posted at the 2014 MVC Championship. While all ten teams improved their team score on Monday as opposed to the first round, the Sycamores improved 19 shots which represents the second biggest one-day jump in the field. The Sycamores also lead the tournament in birdies made and best score of the course's par fives.
One of the key components of Indiana State's previous tournament run to second place in 2014 is Assistant Coach Amanda Smith who will be graduating from Indiana State this spring. Coach Towne knows the importantance of what Smith is bringing to the team during this season as well.
"Having Amanda on the coaching staff has been crucial this week," Towne commented. "She is a calming influence and was key to getting Thilda going today. I am going to miss her next year."
Indiana State picked up two shots on leader Wichita State who finished with a 289 and currently lead with a two-day mark of 586. The Sycamores are second with rounds of 306 and 287 and own a tally of 593. Bradley fell to third place with a second round score of 298 and a tournament tally of 597, four shots behind the Sycamores.
Southern Illinois carded a round of 298 after a first day score of 310 and are in fourth at 608. Host Loyola posted a 306 to follow up their opening round 307 and are fifth with a tally of 613. UNI is sixth at 614 while Missouri State is up to seventh after posting a second round of 297 and stand at 617 heading into the final day. Evansville and Illinois State (618) as well as Drake (629) round out the field.
Benetti stands all alone in fourth place individually with rounds of 73 and 72 for a two-day total of 145. Her second round score of 72 is tied for a career-best with her third round at the Oral Roberts/Stephen F. Austin Spring Break Invitational. Benetti's score of 145 is 13 strokes better than her previous two round tournament score.
Uradomo broke par for the third time this season with her one-under-par score of 71. She is tied for fifth after posting an opening round score of 75 with a tally of 146. She was just one shot off her previous two-round tournament best.
Robyn Blanchard topped her career-best by three strokes with an even-par 72 in Monday's second round. Blanchard had a 79 on the first day and her two day score of 151 is tied for 14th. She is currently seven shots better than her previous two day tally. Thilda Staubo rebounded from an opening round of 81 to post an even-par 72 on Monday. It marks a career-best round for Staubo as well topping her 73 in the first round of the Butler Spring Invitational. Staubo's score of 153 is tied for 21st place.
Alex Jennings recorded an 82 in the second round after posting a 79 on Sunday. Her two-round score of 161 is 11 shots better than her previous best for two tournament rounds. By rule, only the top four scores out of five players counts each day.
There is a three-way tie for first play on the individual leaderboard between Evansville's Kayla Katterhenry, Bradley's Ally Scaccia and Wichita State's Taryn Torgerson who are one-under at 143. Benetti is just two shots behind at 145 and Uradomo is three shots off the pace at 146 and three shots back. Katterhenry posted an impressive score of 67 on Monday which tied a MVC record.
The third and final round of the 2016 MVC Championship is set for Tuesday, April 19 at Harborside. Live scoring can be found via a link at the top of this story. For the second consecutive day, the Sycamores will compete in the final pairing and begin at 10:20 a.m. (ET) with Benetti the last to tee off at 11:00 a.m.
